He quickly said, “It’s really not what you think… He truly likes you. He’s just bad at expressing himself, and he cares too much about his pride.”Ivanka snorted in laughter and did not believe a word he said.Ivan gave an awkward smile. Damn it! What on earth had Michael done to make her loathe him so much? She did not buy anything he said!Ivan sighed with resignation. “I’m telling you. Michael never truly abhorred you to begin with.”Ivanka suddenly blinked. But in the next moment, she came to her senses. As it seemed, Ivan was here to help Michael convince her. He was doing this for his friend’s interest. If she remarried Michael, she would work exclusively with Barkworth’s Group instead of Sadler’s Group. This would bring Michael more profit.After all, her net worth was quite high.She thought that “net worth” sounded rather sarcastic and dehumanizing.Sometimes she genuinely thought that she might as well be an ordinary person. That way, people would not approach her with
“He thought that my father and I reached out to his grandpa to set him up, so that everyone would find out that we had slept together. Then he would have to take responsibility, and I would successfully marry him. He hated how I pulled this trick on him, right?”Ivan was flabbergasted.Damn it!He should not have mentioned that!He quickly shook his head and said firmly, “It’s all a misunderstanding! This has nothing to do with you and your father. Master Barkworth was the one behind it. He knew that Chiara set you up and sent you off to another man that night, so he decided to seize this chance. He replaced the man with Michael. As a result, you and Michael ended up sleeping together.”Ivanka looked away and refused to say a word. Her eyes were filled with coldness and mockery.That day, when she woke up, she was in shock. But once she realized that the man next to her was Michael, she felt panicked yet ecstatic at the same time.She felt that losing her virginity to Michael wa
A strange emotion flickered in Ivanka’s eyes. She remained silent.She did not plan to kick Ivan out and waited.Naturally, Ivan would gladly continue. He wanted to explain everything to her, so he said, “After Michael learned that he has cancer, he got even more depressed. Xander kept finding a way to treat him and stall for time. Since it was an early diagnosis, only the few of us knew. He refused to let us tell anyone else. At that time, he was even more inclined to get a divorce. But you know… sometimes people are complicated. Even though he wanted to divorce you, he was rather reluctant. So he kept stalling.”Ivanka frowned wordlessly. She did not know whether she should believe what Ivan had told her. Frankly, she likely did not trust him at all.Ivan could tell what she was thinking. He sighed wearily. “I know… You might not believe me. You might even suspect that it was Michael who asked me to come over and talk to you. But I just want to tell you the truth.”Ivanka snorte
Ivanka looked at Ivan coldly in silence.“You two only met by chance! He wasn’t stalking you. That bar was huge. He often goes there for business,” Ivan explained.When Ivanka remained silent, he took a deep breath and continued, “Michael thinks Jonah and Elio are bad news. He’s worried they’ll hurt you. That’s why he stepped up and suggested getting back together. Also... he did it because he likes you! He’s always been looking out for you, though his way of doing it can be pretty infuriating.”He wanted to say that Michael was being too overbearing, but he could not bring himself to say it.Ivanka remained calm as Ivan scrutinized her. His mouth twitched, and he could not help but ask, “You still don’t believe any of this, do you?”Ivanka smirked. “To me, he’s worse than Jonah. Are we done here? If you are, you can leave now.”Ivan was speechless.Ivanka did not bother trying to make him leave earlier because she knew he would stubbornly stay. So, she only asked him to leave a
Rosie saw Xander and Ivan as her own grandsons even though they were not biologically related to her. She was very fond of them and had watched them grow up together with Michael.As for Ivanka, that went without saying—she had always treated her as if she were her real granddaughter!Ivanka just smiled and said, “Rest is important. We’ll visit you often.”Rosie shook her head. “I wish you all could be with me every day, but I know work comes first. It’s just so rare for you all to stay tonight. Besides, I got plenty of sleep.”Everyone laughed. Rosie might be tired because she had been accompanying them all morning, which was understandably tiring. Therefore, they did not plan to let her stay with them for too long in the afternoon.However, Rosie was in an exceptionally good mood and in high spirits on this particular day. She enthusiastically chatted with them until dinnertime.Samuel was surprised to see so many people in the mansion when he returned. His expression darkened
If he were younger, Samuel would have been very shrewd. But with age, he behaved more like a child.When Michael did not explain why Ivanka had come over, he frowned. “You know what I meant.”Michael looked at him silently.Samuel could not help but say, “When will Ivanka learn some shame?!”Michael frowned. “Do you think she enjoys seeing a grumpy old man like you? She wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Grandma.”Samuel snorted coldly. “I’d be more than happy if she didn’t come at all. She always uses Grandma as an excuse to visit. It’s like she’s trying to win you back. Can’t you see what she’s trying to do?”Michael turned away. Clearly, he was unwilling to engage further with Samuel’s comment. Samuel gritted his teeth. “You mustn’t fall for that woman! Don’t get caught up with her. She’s not a good match for you.”Michael’s gaze turned cold as he shot Samuel a sharp glance. “If it weren’t for your matchmaking back then, I wouldn’t have gotten involved with her, would I?!”
Michael chuckled coldly and ignored Samuel.Samuel frowned and glared angrily at Michael. “Why are you laughing?”Michael pursed his lips but remained silent.If Ivanka had a strategy, she would have used the period around their marriage to showcase her strengths and demonstrate to him and the Barkworth family how capable she was. She would have shown that she was far superior to Tanya in her potential contributions to Barkworth’s Group.Instead of seizing this opportunity, Ivanka chose to do nothing significant. She remained quiet and unnoticed, which caused Samuel to increasingly dislike her.With Fernando’s passing and the actions taken by Theodore’s family, they gradually pushed her toward a dead end.Michael’s gaze turned cold as he thought about that.“You figure out how to tell Ivanka to stop coming here yourself. This is the last time she sets foot here. She’s not allowed back in here again!” Samuel commanded sharply.He genuinely feared that Michael would fall head ove
Samuel’s body jerked violently as he looked at Michael in disbelief.Michael might be disobedient, but he knew Michael would never lie about something like this. He immediately asked him in alarm, “What illness?”Michael mentioned that Rosie was seriously ill. What was going on?Samuel’s heart rate quickened even more than before as he looked at Michael worriedly.He had completely forgotten about Ivanka. All he could think about was Rosie.He understood that anyone could fall ill. Especially now that both he and Rosie were older, illness was inevitable.He was trying hard to guess what illness Rosie had contracted.He looked at Michael’s cold expression, growing increasingly anxious. What serious illness was Michael talking about? Could it be terminal?The more he thought about it, the more panicked he became!Rosie was a kind-hearted woman. There was no way she would have a terminal illness!“Say something!” Samuel anxiously urged Michael again.Michael looked at Samuel
Ivanka frowned deeply. Michael was in a horrible state. He had been poisoned and suffered gunshots. He had a strong tolerance to medicine and pain. But it was his mental condition that caused him to fall into this state. Not being fully recovered also added to the burden. Ivanka gave him a white pill which she had formulated by herself. After that, she had the security guard carry Michael into her car. Then, she sent him to the hospital. They arrived at the emergency department. Xavier had finished attending to his patients. When he walked out of his office, he saw Michael being carried into the hospital. He then saw Ivanka beside Michael. Xavier frowned. His expression became tense, and he asked solemnly, “What’s happened to him?” “He’s weak and had previously been poisoned. Since you’re around, you can look after him.” Ivanka summarized Michael’s condition. After hearing Ivanka’s brief explanation, Xavier gave Michael a checklist and put him on a drip. After that,
Since Jonah had come to this and Ivanka was not an ungrateful person, she nodded and gave her word. “Jonah, I’ll give this my all. Don’t worry. As long as it’s within my ability, I’ll help you.” Jonah had to be bound to the wheelchair at the moment. Since Ivanka had shared a similar experience when she took over Lane’s Group back then, she naturally figured out how wolfish and greedy his adversaries would be. Jonah was injured because of her. She swore to give her all to save him from whatever crisis he was facing. Jonah took advantage of this and asked, “What time are you coming tomorrow? I’ll have my assistant get ready.” Ivanka thought for a moment. “Tomorrow afternoon.” She needed to manage her company affairs during the first half of the day. Jonah was content upon hearing her answer. “Good. I’ll wait for you tomorrow.” “Okay.” Ivanka nodded before hanging up. When she returned to her office, she did not expect to see Michael sitting on the couch. She nearly jum
There was only one possibility. Ivanka was calling somebody else. Michael wondered who could strike up such a long conversation with her. Sandy and Ivan had returned to the country. Ivanka’s besties were around her. Even if Ivanka deliberately approached Chiara, she could not possibly have so much to chat with Chiara. If Ivanka’s phone call was business related, there was no need to chat this long. Michael eliminated the possible reasons one by one. In the end, he thought of Jonah. Michael’s expression instantly turned as dark as thunderclouds. His gaze was dull and cold. Evan noticed it. He also saw the call record on Michael’s phone. Evan quickly persuaded Michael, “Mr. Barkworth, Ms. Lane could be tied up with her work, so she couldn’t answer your call. We could go to her workplace now.” Michael said nothing. He gave a cold glance at Evan. Evan got a shock. The next second, Michael turned around and left his office. Looking at Michael’s fading silhouette, Evan wi
It was why Ivanka still came for Jonah in spite of her unpleasant experience with Margaret in the hospital last time. Jonah had been injured because of Ivanka. She came for him only. The other people did not matter to her. Jonah’s heart sank upon hearing her words. His expression tensed up. He could imagine the indifferent look on Ivanka’s face right at that moment. She had that expression on her face simply because he was never really important to her. Jonah was upset precisely because of her indifference to him. He wanted to say something to her but did not know how to begin. He was also not in the position to say that. It did not take long before Ivanka’s gentle but rather indifferent voice rang in his ears, “Jonah, don’t worry. I’ll treat your legs until they recover. Don’t run into any conflicts with your mom because of me.” Her words pulled Jonah’s wandering mind back into the present moment. He felt a heavy weight on his heart. “Iv, I trust you. You don’t need to
Margaret became frustrated and grabbed Ivanka. She could not understand why Ivanka was fine while Jonah ended up in such a bad situation after the accident.Then, Jonah defended Ivanka. There was also all the talk about Ivanka’s treatment. Margaret was curious to see what kind of miracle medicine Ivanka could develop.In the end, Ivanka’s treatment did not work. Moreover, her relationship with Jonah, which had finally started to improve, was once again ruined because of Ivanka.Jonah scoffed. “Mom, I’m not an eight-year-old anymore. You’re saying all this because you want me to go along with your plans for an arranged date, right?”Margaret had not expected Jonah to guess her thoughts. She was about to insist on her point when Jonah spoke first. With a mocking smile, he said sarcastically, “Do you think anyone would date someone like me?”He had a point. But Laura might be one such person.However, Margaret did not like her. She would do anything to keep Laura from becoming her d
“That’s because you want him to fall in love with you!” Margaret snapped.Ivanka chuckled softly. Her tone was edged with sarcasm. “Love? Does it really matter that much?”Margaret felt humiliated and furious. She pointed a finger at Ivanka’s face with a hostile expression. “If it doesn’t matter, why are you doing all this? Stop pretending, Ivanka!”Ivanka let out a bitter laugh. “Pretending? What am I pretending for? Is being divorced a crime? Margaret, you’re a woman too. How would you feel if someone accused you like this?”She hoped Margaret would take a moment to reflect. After all, she was Jonah’s mother, and Ivanka did not want their conflict to escalate.But Margaret was unmoved. Her glare turned colder, sharper, and filled with hatred.“You think I’ll just let this go?” Margaret said sharply. “If it weren’t for you, Jonah wouldn’t be in this mess! I meant every word I said, and nothing will change that.”To her, Ivanka was nothing more than someone scheming to use Jonah
“Ivanka,” Margaret took a deep breath while trying to compose herself. When she looked at Ivanka again, her expression was calm. She said, “I don’t know how deep Jonah’s feelings for you run. What I fear most is that once he becomes fixated on you, that’s it. When he falls for someone, his heart won’t make room for anyone else. In that way, he’s just like his father.”Ivanka’s gaze wavered. She bit her lip and was unsure of what to say.“I beg you, don’t hurt Jonah anymore!” Margaret’s voice carried a note of desperation.Ivanka’s expression turned extremely complicated.There was a time when Jonah came to her only to use her. Back then, they were both using each other. It made things simple.But later, Jonah unexpectedly started talking about marriage. Perhaps it was to provoke Michael, or perhaps he simply wanted to keep her close because she was useful to him.At some point, though, it seemed Jonah had become serious about her. She could not pinpoint when it happened. Perhaps
Jonah frowned in clear disagreement, but he stayed silent. Ivanka’s confident smile reassured him and made him trust her.Eventually, he let go of her wrist.Ivanka noticed Margaret putting on her shoes. She quickly followed, stepping outside just as Margaret was about to get into her car“Margaret,” she called out.Margaret frowned slightly and stood still.Since Jonah had not come out with Ivanka, she decided she could spare a moment to speak with her.She turned and looked at Ivanka coldly.Ivanka softened her tone. “Let’s take a walk.”Margaret did not respond, but her silence was enough of an agreement.They walked slowly around the edge of the mansion. The surrounding area was all part of the Sadler family estate.Margaret suppressed her anger and glanced at Ivanka before speaking in a composed tone, “Alright. What do you want to say?”Ivanka met her gaze briefly before looking ahead and said, “Do you know what will happen if Jonah’s coughing continues?”Margaret’s he
Margaret glared at Ivanka and scoffed, “If there’s an issue, I’ll get another doctor to handle it. It’ll be anyone but you, Ivanka. Haven’t I made myself clear enough? I’ve told you this before.”She hated how Ivanka ignored her warnings and kept coming back to visit Jonah time and again. What if Jonah got too close to her and ended up ruining his reputation? If Jonah had not been here, Margaret would have been even harsher.Ivanka frowned as she met Margaret’s sharp gaze. “I’ve never tried to get close to Jonah like that. We’re just friends. I know I’m not good enough for him, so I’ve never even thought about it.”“You might not have, but he has!” Margaret snapped, raising her voice.“Mom!” Jonah’s expression darkened.Jonah was usually calm and polite. This was the first time Ivanka saw him looking so upset and was about to lose his temper.Ivanka’s eyes flickered with hesitation. She was unsure of what to say.Explaining Jonah’s coughing would do no good. Margaret would not